Yoel Rodríguez Oterino (born 28 August 1988), known simply as Yoel (), is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Racing de Ferrol Racing Club de Ferrol, commonly known as Racing de Ferrol, is a Spanish football team based in Ferrol, Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1919, the club currently plays in , holding home games at '' E ...

. He played 82

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

games for

Celta CELTA is an initial teacher training qualification for teaching English as a second or foreign language (ESL and EFL). It is provided by Cambridge Assessment English through authorised Cambridge English Teaching Qualification centres and can be ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

Eibar Eibar (, ) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi. It is the capital of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Debabarrena. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat, 2018). Its chief industry is ...

and

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, almost exclusively as back-up.

Club career

Celta

Born in

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

, Galicia, Yoel was a product of local

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

's youth academy. He was promoted to the first team for the 2009–10 season, with the team in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. On 10 February 2010, following a string of good performances in that year's

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

, he was called up to the Spain under-21 side training camp by manager

Juan Ramón López Caro Juan Ramón López Caro (; born 23 March 1963) is a Spanish football manager. He managed Real Madrid and Levante in La Liga, as well as Celta and Real Madrid Castilla in the Segunda División. After a spell in charge of Spain under-21 he mov ...

. Yoel was first choice in the 2011–12, playing 25 games in a return to

after five years. For the following campaign, however, he was loaned to neighbouring

CD Lugo Club Deportivo Lugo is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded on 8 July 1953, it plays in Primera Federación, holding home games at ''Estadio Anxo ...

also in the second tier. Yoel returned to Celta for 2013–14, making his top-flight debut on 19 August in a 2–2 home draw against

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

Valencia

On 31 July 2014, Yoel was loaned to

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

for one year, with the club having an obligatory option to buy him permanently at the end of this period. He made his competitive debut on 19 October, starting in the 3–0 away loss against

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

. On 19 November 2015, after making no appearances during the season despite injuries to both Diego Alves and

Mathew Ryan Mathew David Ryan (born 8 April 1992) is an Australian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for club Lens and captains the Australia national team. Born in Sydney, Ryan played youth football for Marconi Stallions, Blacktown C ...

, Yoel was loaned to

until June to make up for Toño's serious injury, with a

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in an employment contract. It allows the employee to terminate the contract unilaterally upon payment of a specified (usually substantial) fee to the employer. The fee may be paid by the employ ...

. On 20 December, he was in goal at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

, but his team had to play with nine players for more than 60 minutes and were eventually crushed 10–2 by hosts

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Eibar

Yoel joined top-flight

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

on 11 July 2016, on loan and again with an option to buy. On 23 May 2017, he agreed to a permanent deal for a reported €750,000. In June 2017, Yoel suffered a knee ligament injury while exercising, ruling him out for six months. On 30 August 2018, having spent the remainder of the campaign as a backup to Marko Dmitrović, he renewed his contract until 2021 and was immediately loaned to

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

for one year. He spent most of that season on the bench behind

Jordi Masip Jordi Masip López (born 3 January 1989) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He spent the vast majority of his career with Barcelona and Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipa ...

, and when chosen to play against

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

on 19 April 2019, he made errors in a 2–2 away draw. In December 2020, having not recovered his position from the Serb, Yoel extended his link until June 2024. The following summer, as the former moved to

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

Ander Cantero Ander Cantero Armendariz (born 9 January 1995) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Burgos CF. Club career Born in Pamplona, Navarre, Cantero joined CA Osasuna's youth setup in 2002, aged seven. He made his senior debut with ...

arrived as competition at the relegated

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

club. Yoel continued to play second-fiddle until the end of his spell after Cantero's departure, now to

Luca Zidane Luca Zinedine Zidane Fernández (born 13 May 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Segunda División club Granada CF. He is the son of former footballer Zinedine Zidane. Early life Luca was born in Aix-en-Prove ...

Racing Ferrol

On 2 July 2024, the

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Yoel remained in the second tier by signing a one-year contract with

Career statistics

References

External links

* *
Celta de Vigo biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yoel Rodriguez 1988 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Vigo Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players RC Celta Fortuna players RC Celta de Vigo players CD Lugo players Valencia CF players Rayo Vallecano players SD Eibar footballers Racing de Ferrol footballers Spain men's youth international footballers